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Topic: Come See Yosemite, May 14-21, 2017 (Read 19809 times)

So happy to have you reporting on the rally, Betty. My favorite reporter! If you're going to be stuck somewhere due to traffic or lack of parking room, I can't imagine anywhere better than the Ahwanhee Hotel. Lucky, lucky! Eager to hear reports of the rest of the rally. Were the waterfalls at their most spectacular after the wet winter?

As Betty stated, first happy hour was a huge success minus Terry :<( Everyone seems to like our RV park. The company was outstanding as expected with RV Forum Framily. Below is a picture of our first happy hour. We are 15 total. My first day here I simply asked Ken a question about my newly installed 2000 watt inverter. Before you know it Ken is under my bed, in my breaker box, telling me that my inverter is wired in an unsafe manner. That I need a sub panel and additional breakers. He's insisting on fixing it for me, even though I didn't want to take advantage of his time, but he persisted. So today, we're off to the hardware store, some 30 minutes away, buying all the materials for him to wire in a sub panel. Below is a photograph showing his fine work of my newly (and correctly) installed sub panel behind my original panel. Of course, everything works perfectly.

I brought along "Yosemite Sam" to award to someone every day for whatever reason may seem appropriate. I surely felt Ken deserved this for his generosity with his time and knowledge to fix a problem I really didn't know I had. Below is a photo of Ken and his award. I surely owe him a lot more than this! Needless to say, Ken and I didn't make it into the park today, so no waterfall photos from me.

Tonight Bill Roscoe took 9 of us who wanted to go into town to the Iron Door Saloon, the oldest saloon in CA. I think they said 1852? Anyway, we went and had a round of drinks to honor a good friend if Bill's who passed away suddenly yesterday. It was a nice way to honor a man's memory, and very generous of Bill to buy the round of drinks! My phone had died by then, so no photos of that.

Tomorrow they are forecasting a little rain, so we'll see who all goes into the park. The rest of the week is supposed to be sunny and beautiful. Wish you were all here with us!

Glad to see the Yosemite rally has had a successful start! Steve, if there's one thing you can count on it's that we have a wonderful group who are very knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects and who are willing to help. Ken is right up there at the top of the group. He's always willing to share his time and ability so it's good to have him be the first recipient of the Yosemite Sam award! Enjoying the photos. Have a great week!

Terry and I ventured out to the Yosemite National Park again today, on our timeline (late). It is roughly a 45 minute drive from our RV park to center of "town" within Yosemite. I took most of the photos yesterday on my Iphone and am still figuring out how to get those photos loaded. So here I go old school with my "OLD' Canon camera where I know how to post photos via Picassa.

We had another adventure in the park searching for parking places and shuttle stops and the Visitor Center. There is much construction, detours and closed parking lots in the Village. The names of things have changed so the signs do not match what is on the maps. This discrepancy is hard on a marriage! Seems the National News has been publicizing the gushing waterfalls and MILLIONS of tourists are here! We did see the Kuch's car in the Ahwanee parking lot. Heard they had a wonderful lunch with beautiful view,met new friends, got tips on where to visit.

When we finally arrived at the Visitor Center we entered the Theatre for two of the most informative movies on the history of Yosemite. Think Civil War times! Yellowstone was first but Yosemite came before!

Hope I don't step on Steve's toes as I saw him snapping photos of this afternoon's Happy Hour as well as me. Better to have twice the news than none right?

Promptly at 4:30 the entire group assembled for tales of the day. A group went berry picking. Jan said he got twice his money's worth as he paid by pound but what you ate did not get weighed! He shared a basket of blueberries at the event this afternoon! He did also keep patting his belly all afternoon !

Bill and Corrine went out to breakfast and did laundry. Everyone needs a day off in this RV lifestyle. Ken and Sheila secured a coveted Ahwanehee Parking place and enjoyed lunch at the hotel. Pam and Kevin told me what they did but I've already forgotten , forgive me. Alan and Suzanne also got lucky with lunch at the hotel! YUM and what a view!

So YOSEMITE Sam was Ken's to present but alas he left Happy hour early (it was very coolish) so Sheila brought out the Award and with a few heads together in private consultation, it was determined that Bill Roscoe should win the Yosemite Sam award for his generous "first round" at the Ironhorse Saloon last night. This was in honor of the passing of his good friend Lyn. We learned tonight that Lyn had red hair and a handlebar mustache, just like Yosemite Sam!

Thank you Bill and congrats on your award. Now yours to bestow on someone else!

No worries Betty, you could never step on my toes. Remember, those not here said post lots of pictures, so the more the better. Since the weather forecast was iffy today, a group of us went blueberry picking. We had a lot of fun. We picked about 12 pounds of berries between the 5 of us. Something unique and not expected on this trip. Keeps life interesting. Tomorrow we are going into the park. Here are some pics from the blueberry adventure. I think Jan ate his way through the field, but they said we could eat as many as we wanted while picking.

For your information, if you happen to be in the area of El Cap Meadow today or tomorrow you will be able to see the YOSAR (Yosemite Search and Rescue) Team doing some short-haul training. There will be PSAR (Preventive Search and Rescue) Volunteers keeping people out of the meadow itself and away from the Team. The PSAR Team will be available to answer questions about the Park and/or Search and Rescue.

I'm glad you all are enjoying your visit to Yosemite. Keep the pictures coming so those people who were not able to join you can at least live vicariously!

I have been struggling to resize pictures, but I think I can do it now. We went into Yosemite on Monday. This was our first trip, and all I can say is WOW! We left the RV park at 8:00, and only had moderate traffic at first. However there were true traffic jams beginning around noon until we left the park around 3:00. It was rainy and cold, and we hadn't dressed appropriately. We intend on going into the Hetch Hetchy area today, and then taking our bikes in for a ride around the valley tomorrow when it is warmer (it is still cool and rainy).

Great photos, people. Keep 'em coming please! I never would have expected blueberries in that area. We eat them almost every day and they're really expensive so enjoy them (and all their nutritious ingredients) while you can!

Another great day here. We had breakfast with some of the rally attendees, then we headed into the park. Just past the (closed) turnoff to Tioga Pass we saw a bear! Beautiful cinnamon colored brown bear with a collar just eating in the meadow. We also went to Hetch Hetchy. The water line was 6-8' below high pool, and it was lovely. We then continued with highway 120 to highway 140 to Mariposa. Cascade Falls was gorgeous. From Mariposa we headed back to the RV park by way of highway 49, a twisty, windy, and lovely road. Tomorrow we plan on eating breakfast in the park and riding our bikes around the valley before dinner with the rally attendees.

Today was the most spectacular day. It was the type of day I envisioned in bringing the "Framily" here. A group of us headed out to the infamous "tunnel view" vista point. We got some fantastic photos. We then headed up to Glacier Point. It's a vantage point 4000 feet above the Yosemite Valley floor. We captured some more incredible pictures. We headed down into the valley for a stop at the Majestic Hotel (formerly known as the Awahnee Hotel). Traffic was very reasonable today. We strolled the hotel and the surrounding grounds for a few more photos. Then back to camp for late arrival at happy hour, but we made it. Don got awarded the Yosemite Sam for patiently sitting in the back seat of my car, by himself, waiting for our group to get going this morning.

I can't compete with Pam and Steve's reports of the day as I did laundry! We did enjoy Happy Hour and meeting some new friends from Australia who now live in Sunset City AZ. Well they have been in Us for 25 years! They are looking at becoming RVForum members. George and his wife are pictured here. I also got a shot of Don the new recipient of Yosemite Sam.

A bunch of us wandered off to Groveland to have pizza. Yum plus a beer!

Steve promised me a lesson in resizing photos after our group dinner tonight. After a few tries of email photos sent and received we both laughed as he was using Windows program and I use a Mac. So much for shared technology.

Eleven of our group departed at 10:30 toward Hetch Hetchy . This is a very northern part of Yosemite and not in the crowed section. We had toured a Thousand Trails RV park close by (concluding Steve picked the very best park for all of us) had lunch at Evergreen Lodge and then visited the Hetch Hetchy area including the dam and Reservoir.

The day was capped off with a Happy hour at our campground I missed ( sadly missed Pam's brownies too) then off to Buck Meadows for a final group dinner. I took photos but I'm having trouble with my old Picassa program and the slow internet here so stay tuned ( it may take a while till I get photos to you , but I will.)

We met Kim, daughter of Bill and Corrine. Bill brought his favorite wines to share at dinner tonight. Don Nesbitt and Mary Ann Celebrated their last night with the group and he presented Yosemite Sam to ... wait for it.... He has a few nominations...Jan for waiting till end of lunch meal to express his displeasure with VERY salty elk chili and Terry who is allowed to buy ice cream in any hour of the day even after a big lunch. But Don in his extreme gentleman way offered up Yosemite Sam back to STEVE for hosting this rally. Drumroll, applause!!!! There is no question but that this group is having a wonderful time!

Obviously, those over 50 should not attempt to teach anything about technology. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but Betty and I had a good laugh about this one. I have just a few pictures to share from today. We actually went to a section of the park I had never been to, so when you're taking it all in, you sometimes forget to snap more pictures. We had a great time exploring this remote section of the park, had a great lunch, and marveled at the enormity of the O'Shaughnessy Dam. I wish I could share the video of the water being released from the dam. The roar of the rush was incredible. This reservoir provides almost all of the drinking water to the city of San Francisco, who paid to construct this dam. Tonight we shared a good meal and great company as we bid farewell to Don & Mary Ann who are leaving for Yellowstone in the morning. Thanks for coming all the way to California to share some time with us!

Thanks for sharing all the great pictures! I especially liked seeing the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir upon whose water we depended for so many years - and which we miss greatly. I always said we had the best water in the country because it came down from the Sierra Range in huge pipes, then it's stored in the Crystal Spring Reservoir which is equally pristine, before being piped out to residents from San Francisco to Mountain View, in other words the upper half of the San Francisco Peninsula. Our water was good tasting as well as being naturally soft.

Something new and different again today. Several of us went to Columbia State Historic Park. They put on an authentic reenactment of an 1852 gold rush town. They had saloons, blacksmiths, gold panning operations, etc. For me it was like seeing my CA history class in live action. After, we visited the town of Sonora. We wandered in and out of antique shops and an old fire fighting museum. It was a fun day.

Just a note to let you know the "early leavers" had a pretty much uneventful journey to Winnemucca, NV, 400+ miles,yesterday. A chart of our elevations through the day would resemble a big yo-yo but the lumbering beast handled it well.

When we made the decision to stay on Interstates and go through Salt Lake City, MA called Mike and Chrystal and we'll be able to get together with them this afternoon. Another lucky break for the Nesbitts!

Most of all, this is to thank all of the Framily for making our Yosemite Rally so enjoyable. A big Thank You goes to Steve for all the work he put into making sure we all stayed busy and had a great time -- even getting the early rainy weather changed to sunshine for the rest of the week -- and to Dee for supporting him and putting up with him! Best wishes for a successful knee repair and quick recovery.

Enjoy the remainder of the rally and Safe Travels to your next destination!

Don and Mary Ann

Logged

Don and Mary Ann (Pelicanlady) NesbittCary, NC2007 Fleetwood Excursion 40X2012 Jeep GC Overland 4x4 Hemi ToadLife is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away!

Yosemite Sam has a final home. Last night Steve presented him to Bill R for keeps. When Steve learned that the friend of Bill's who passed away this week had red hair and a mustache he presented him to Bill as a memento.

Most folks took a down day today preparing for tomorrow's departure Jan, Olga and I had to run a reconnassence mission of sorts. Jan lost his debit card at the 1852 festival yesterday, but a good person had turned it in to lost and found. After, we went to a chocolate festival in Oakdale, CA. We had high hopes, but were fairly disappointed. It was more just like street fair, with a couple of booths that had pre-made chocolates. Not at all what we were expecting. But all ended well when Suzanne suggested we all go for pizza to celebrate our final night, even though we had already done our official farewell. We all got to sit together and enjoy each others company as well as some really good pizza.

I would personally like to that all who came and made this rally a big success. Special thanks to Betty Brewer for assisting with the picture posting and encouraging me to do a rally. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Terry and I pulled out of Yosemite Pines RV Park at 7:30 this morning. We almost beat Ken and Sheila but he took the short cut out of the park and beat us on that lovely sharp curved road 8 miles of downhill. The good part of traveling on A Sunday morning is the light traffic. We made it 402 miles to Yreka. Will overnight and get new tires for MH in morning in Eugene, Or.

We left just after Betty and Terry at 8:00. We wanted to get a NFS campground somewhere near Lake Tahoe, but it was just too crowded for my taste. We made it Winnemucca, farther than planned, so we will make it home to SLC tomorrow. I was so deprived of internet (have I mentioned before how much I dislike Tengonet internet? It was awful.) and television (our site had no cable and no sight line for the satellite) that we are in the KOA. Very nice place actually. We are headed out to dinner.

Thanks to Steve for setting up a nice rally. Yosemite was great, and the surrounding area quite interesting. Of course the people make the sightseeing more fun.

Thanks for organizing the rally! We had a great time. We may have gotten ahead of Terry for a while, but he beat us here to Yreka. Tomorrow we head to Coburg, OR for our first service appointment at Cummins.

A big thanks to Steve for organising the rally and to all the participants who contributed to making it so successful. We enjoyed ourselves immensely.We left around 9.45 and arrived in Reno mid afternoon, now we are parked alongside the Truckee River and will sleep tonight to the sounds of water rushing over a small rapid.

To all the attendees, you are most welcome. I enjoyed the opportunity to share this little slice of California with all of you. It did seem to fly by. Other than being without Dee, I had a great time. Especially catching up with framily I hadn't seen for a while, as well as meeting new folks. To those who enjoyed online with us, I am glad you enjoyed our posts. I am grateful to Betty Brewer for assisting me with the rally postings and photos. I had a thankfully uneventful drive home although it was hot. 99 degrees pulling the Grapevine hill on I-5 was not fun, but she ran like a champ. Glad to be home. Can't wait for the next rally.